A Queen Anne resident since 1980, architect Carolyn Geise has designed homes and housing in Seattle neighborhoods including Queen Anne. A professional activist since her UW architecture student days, when she staffed the American Institute of Architects (AIA Seattle) booth at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, she has taken an active role in neighborhood planning and community development, in and beyond Seattle’s Belltown community.

On June 20th the Queen Anne Historical Society provided it’s second modern tour. The Modern Tour started with a presentation by Jeff Murdock. Murdock is currently serving his second term on the City of Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board and Architectural Review Committee. Murdock presented the Queen Anne Pool, which was designed by Benjamin McAdoo & Co and completed in 1978. Murdock explained that the “construction of the building was controversial because it required the purchase and removal of ten homes, making it the most expensive Seattle Parks pool at $1.25 million.” The pool was a project in the second phase of McAdoo’s career and Murdock believes “his influence as an African American architect and activist for social change was significant in national as well as local contexts.” …Continue reading “Looking at Queen Anne’s Modern Sites”→

What is Modern, and why does the Queen Anne Historical Society (QAHS) care?

True, Modern architecture is not a style. Modern architecture is the belief that using the opportunities provided by a site, by a client and by constraints should inform design.

Understanding Modern architecture is not merely understanding contemporary works by architects; rather, it is understanding how a design was informed and conceived and how it is expressed in the authenticity of the design solution.

A. Farkas, S. Olson, D. Coleman, & L. Williams

For QAHS, the essence of Modern design and Modern living is worth documenting. The society believes Queen Anne’s heritage is not only traditional and that we do well to capture the meaning of Modern while we can actually talk to the people who are doing the work.